Report 

ON THE 

Formation of The American 
Defense Society 


BY 

C. S. Thompson 

Chairman of the Board of Trustees 


Published by 

The American Defense Society 
3 0 3 Fifth Avenue 

New York City 





By transfer 
The White House. 




v 



PROGRAM OF THE 
AMERICAN DEFENSE SOCIETY 


Resolution unanimously adopted at a joint meeting of 
the Advisory Board and the Board of Trustees of the 
American Defense Society at the Hotel Biltmore, New 
York, on January 5, 1916. 


We must have a strong Navy, fully manned, of 48 dread¬ 
noughts and battle-cruisers in proportion. The necessary 
number of scout destroyers and sea-going submarines should 
balance the capital fleet; also auxiliaries, colliers, repair ships, 
tenders, etc. Ships should be laid down immediately. 

We must have a standing army of 200,000 men and 45,000 
officers, backed by a national force of citizens trained in arms 
under a universal and obligatory system. This body should 
be of no less strength than two million men, fully equipped, 
and with a large reserve supply of artillery and ammunition. 

This shall be America’s insurance against war, against 
invasion, against a foreign flag over Washington—a force of 
defense which makes the Monroe Doctrine a living fact. And 
this shall be the true meaning of preparedness. Half measures 
are useless and a waste of money. 







V 


RESOLUTION 

ADOPTED BY THE ADVISORY BOARD 

of the 

AMERICAN DEFENSE SOCIETY 


At a joint meeting of the Advisory Board and the Board 
of Trustees at the Hotel Biltmore, New York, on January 
5, 1916. 

Be it resolved by the Advisory Board of the American 
Defense Society that: 

The Constitution and By Laws, with the minutes duly 
recorded of all meetings, having been looked into and found 
according to law; 

The resources of the Society, based wholly upon public 
subscriptions, small donations, and the like, having been found 
satisfactory; the books having been regularly audited by a 
public accountant; such moneys as the Society has expended 
having been spent for the purpose for which they were sub¬ 
scribed ; and the office force having been wisely and economi¬ 
cally organized; 

The purpose of the Society having been thoroughly can¬ 
vassed and discussed, and found to represent collectively, and 
in the aggregate, an enlightened campaign for an army and 
navy immediate and adequate for national defense; 

Be it therefore Resolved that we, the Advisory Board of 
the said American Defense Society, do unhesitatingly and 
unanimously extend to the Executive Committee and Trustees 
of the Society our hearty approval of their work already 
done, and of their work in hand as outlined for the future; 

And be it further Resolved that the American Defense 
Society deserves the active support of every right-thinking 
American citizen. 




























-; • . 




























The American Defense Society 

From time to time many inquiries have been made regarding 
the American Defense Society; specifically, how the Society came 
into being; through whose efforts; and for what reason? So far, 
with a few exceptions, these inquiries have been answered only to 
individuals. Now, at the end of the Society’s fourth month, how¬ 
ever, in view of the work done, and other work further outlined, it 
seems advisable there should be an official report upon the formation 
and the definite program of our organization. 

Today it is the pleasure of the Chairman of your Board of 
Trustees to make this report. He is making it because he is the 
one who conceived the idea of the Society, and who took the first 
steps toward its formation. If there is anything to be said therefore 
regarding the wisdom of having formed the Society, or the motives 
attending this first step, the responsibility should be addressed to 
your chairman. 

There are today many who have had a share in the founding 
of the American Defense Society, and presently they will be called 
by name, but in the beginning there were only three. Associated 
with your chairman from the very first was your present secretary, 
Mr. Cushing Stetson, through whom, I am glad to say, your chair¬ 
man first became acquainted with the needs of defense in this 
country. Next on the list is Mr. John F. Hubbard, chairman of your 
Committee on Organization. I am giving you these facts, because 
I feel Mr. Stetson and Mr. Hubbard are deserving of your deepest 
gratitude for their loyal support in our early trying days, and be¬ 
cause these facts should go on record. 

Before taking up further details I shall be pardoned, I trust, 
if I call your attention to a few facts concerning Mr. Stetson, Mr. 
Hubbard, and your chairman. From time to time we have been 
asked to explain who we were, what we were, and how we came to 
be what we are. 

The Founders 

Mr. Stetson, a member of the Harvard class of 1894, is a writer 
by profession. A close association between Mr. Stetson and the 
navy began in 1912 when at the suggestion of Rear-Admiral Stephen 
B. Luce, “father of the Naval War College,” he became associate 
editor of the “Bluejacket,” a magazine published by and for the en¬ 
listed men of our service. The following year Mr. Stetson was 
authorized by the Secretary of the Navy, Hon. George Von L. 
Meyer, to take the annual southern cruise on the battleship Georgia 
to select material for fiction, a cruise which was extended by the 
Mexican situation to a duration of five months, all of which time 


3 


Mr. Stetson remained aboard ship. The following year, again by 
authorization of the Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Stetson sailed on 
the North Dakota as a special correspondent to Vera Cruz, and was 
again aboard ship for five months, including a month on the Paducah, 
three weeks on the Louisiana, and a short trip on the Texas. Finally, 
in November 1914, the New York Tribune on the recommendation 
of Mr. Roland Phillips, editor of the Cosmopolitan Magazine, en¬ 
gaged Mr. Stetson to prepare a series of articles on our naval de¬ 
ficiencies and short-comings. This series, when published went to 
corroborate Reprensentative Gardner’s charges as to our naval un¬ 
preparedness, and were later confirmed before the Naval Committee 
of the House of Representatives on the witness stand by Com¬ 
mander Yates Stirling, then in command of the submarine flotilla, 
by Rear-Admiral Badger, and by Admiral Fletcher, now Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet. 

Mr. Hubbard is a son of the late Commander J. F. Hubbard, 
U. S. N., who died in Hong Kong in 1914; the grandson of Hon. 
Henry I. Seaman, who obtained passage of the first bill for the 
fortification of the Narrows in New York harbor. Mr. Hubbard 
who entered Harvard in September 1910 at the age of fifteen gradu¬ 
ated in 1913, and since then has attended the New York Law School, 
and the Columbia Law School. At the request of your chairman 
Mr. Hubbard gave up his work in law so that he might devote his 
whole time to the cause of the American Defense Society. 

From 1896 until 1910, with the exception of an interval 
covering three years, the chairman of your Board was connected 
with the New Haven Register, serving from 1905 until 1910 
as managing editor, from which work he retired in order to devote 
his whole time to writing. Today the chairman of your Board is 
serving as chairman of the publicity committee of the Author’s 
League of America. An occasional contributor to the leading 
magazines of the country, he has at other times devoted himself 
to national publicity and organization work of a civic nature. He 
was associated with Will Irwin in directing the Authors Syndicate 
Bureau at the National Progressive Party Headquarters in 1912. 
Among the national campaigns directed by him may be named the 
Fourth International Congress on School Hygiene, held at Buffalo in 
August 1913; the national publicity for the city of St. Louis at the 
time of their one hundred and fiftieth anniversary, in connection 
with Percy Mackaye, author of the Masque of Saint Louis; the 
American publicity for the Commission for Relief in Belgium. 
From April until August 1915, your chairman, then serving as head 
of the publicity committee of the National Security League, directed 
the national defense publicity for that organization, in addition to 
serving as chairman of the committee having in charge the Peace 
and Preparation Conference, held at the Hotel Astor on June 14th 
and 15th, the first national Congress on preparedness in this country. 


4 


National Security League 

On July first, 1915, Mr. Stetson, Mr. Hubbard, and your 
present chairman constituted the publicity committee for the Na¬ 
tional Security League. Mr. Stetson was also a member of the 
Navy Committee of the National Security League, and in addition 
both Mr. Stetson and Mr. Hubbard were actively associated with 
>our chairman in the management of the National Security League 
Peace and Preparation Conference. Mr. Stetson was a member of 
the committee in charge. 

Let it be understood that from April till July the publicity 
program of the National Security League was in the hands of Mr. 
Stetson and myself. At the outset we had volunteered our services, 
promising to do what we could toward building up an efficient pub¬ 
licity department. Our first work for the League was the prepara¬ 
tion of an open letter pointing out the deplorable condition of un¬ 
preparedness of the United States, and calling upon the public to 
support the work for better defense. This first letter, signed by 
Joseph H. Choate, Henry L. Stimson, Alton B. Parker, and S. 
Stanwood Menken, declared in brief:— 

* * * since we are not adequately prepared to maintain our 
national policies, 

And since the present defenseless condition of the nation is 
due to the failure of Congress not only to follow the carefully con¬ 
sidered plans of our naval and military advisors, but also to provide 
any reasonable measure for gradually putting such plans into 
practice, 

It is manifest that until a workable plan for a world alliance 
has been evolved and agreed to by the principal nations, with proper 
guarantee of good faith, the United States must undertake adequate 
military preparations for its defense. 

In view of the European war, then in progress for nearly nine 
months; in view of the refusal of Congress either to remedy, or 
even investigate, our condition of unpreparedness, Mr. Stetson and 
myself, as a committee, agreed that further steps should be taken 
at once to inform the public regarding our defenseless condition. 
We therefore issued press statements giving the details of our lack 
of men and material. We wrote pamphlets, sending them broad¬ 
cast. In the middle of May we planned to hold a mass meeting at 
the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City, but our efforts 
in this direction failed. It was afterward pointed out to us that 
Secretary of War Garrison did not favor any general agitation for 
preparedness until some time in the fall. 

Later in May, following the address of Secretary Garrison at 
Lake Mohonk, in which he himself had called attention to the 
deplorable condition of the country, Mr. Stetson and myself resolved 
that the best thing for national defense in this country would be a 
Peace and Preparation Congress in New York on flag day, Monday 


5 


June 14th, and Tuesday June 15th. To the holding of this conven¬ 
tion there was determined opposition on the ground that Secretary 
Garrison favored no general agitation of the defense question at this 
time. Nevertheless, acting as a publicity committee, Mr. Stetson 
and myself sent out the telegrams of invitation, afterward request¬ 
ing the executive committee of the League to assume the responsi¬ 
bility for the conference. 

On the occasion of the Peace and Preparation Conference Mr. 
Stetson and myself, together with others, sought to secure the pas¬ 
sage of a resolution calling for a special session of Congress to con¬ 
sider the question of better national defense, but in this endeavor 
we failed. 

Immediately following the adjournment of the Conference, 
which was made up of an exhibit, an Army Session, a Navy Session, 
a mass meeting, and a big luncheon, as well as a delegate session, Mr. 
Stetson and myself, now joined by Mr. Hubbard, sought to secure 
the publication of the Conference addresses and a report of the 
proceedings. In this again we failed. We then urged the immediate 
opening of war exhibits in New York City and elsewhere, like the 
one held at the Hotel Astor, which was attended by ten thousand 
people in three days. We also recommended, definitely, a non¬ 
partisan report of what the administration at Washington was 
doing, and what it was not doing. 

A Question of Policy 

At this point, however, the efforts of the Publicity Committee 
of the National Security League to tell what the administration 
was “not doing” met with decided opposition. One official declared 
he would resign if anything more were said regarding the short¬ 
comings of the Secretary of the Navy. It was* then argued that 
the best results could be obtained by working “with the administra¬ 
tion.” The word “pork barrel,” used in connection with Congress, 
was then ordered stricken from their literature. There would be 
no war exhibits ; no mass meetings, no more articles on the Secretary 
of the Navy. Should we work in harmony with the administration? 

On the facts of unpreparedness we were all agreed. There 
was no dispute either on the need of an early remedy. It was 
simply a question as to the best policy for the League. Should we 
give up an immediate, aggressive, non-partisan campaign? 

Highest naval officers had testified to our defenseless condition 
—to our lack of officers, and men; to our lack of ships, and ammu¬ 
nition ; to the absence of an organized general staff; to our lack of 
naval policy; to the petty politics of the navy department. We had 
barely 30,000 men in our mobile army in continental while the 
figures of other nations ran high in the millions. We had hardly 

6 


half enough men to man our sea coast defenses. We had no or¬ 
ganized army reserve, a militia at less than one half an estimated 
war strength, and with no provision for completing it. We were 
without an aviation corps for either army or navy. 

These facts had been offered to Congress, but Congress had 
already refused to investigate. Even the President, when referring 
to the subject of national defense on the occasion of his message 
to Congress on December 8, 1914, had declared: 

“.but I turn away from the subject. It is not new. There 

is no new need to discuss it. We shall not alter our attitude toward 
it because some amongst us are nervous and excited.” 

“Let there be no misconception. The country has been misin¬ 
formed. We have not been negligent of national defense.” 

Was it advisable then to work in harmony with this adminis¬ 
tration? At this time was it not plain just how much interest Con¬ 
gress and the administration had in the subject? 

On July first, 1915, there were several other defense leagues 
already in existence, but in spite of what they had done, and many 
of them had done good work, public support for better national 
defense was still feeble, unorganized, and altogether unworthy of 
the name. Furthermore there was a vast amount of work waiting 
to be done. 

There was need, first of all, of a publicity clearing house for 
better national defense work. There was need of co-operation 
among the various leagues; there was a deplorable lack of pamph¬ 
lets; there was an opportunity for war exhibits in all the leading 
cities. There was a further immediate need, we felt, of mass meet¬ 
ings, of newspaper and magazine articles. There was need of a 
national magazine devoted to the general subject of American De¬ 
fense. There was urgent need, we believed, of someone saying what 
the administration was doing and also what it was failing to do. 

If anything were to be done by Congress, we argued, Congress 
should first have public support for preparedness. Could this public 
support be won over night? Was it not equally important your 
ordinary citizen should be given the facts? The greater part of a 
year had already elapsed since the outbreak of the war in Europe, 
and as a nation we had been having grave diplomatic exchanges 
with at least two belligerent powers. On the high seas the American 
flag had long been violated. Lives had been lost. Still nothing had 
been done by Congress, or by the administration to remedy our 
defenseless condition. 

Once again, Mr. Stetson and your chairman sought to interest 
others in continuing our aggressive campaign, and once again we 
failed. 

On July 1915, accordingly, the chairman of your present 
Board of Trustees, then serving as chairman of the publicity com- 



mittee of the National Security League, addressed letters to the 
leading speakers of the Peace and Preparation Conference of June 
14th and 15th, saying that he had personally become interested in 
the defense movement to the point where he was willing to contri¬ 
bute his spare time to the cause, and that he desired the use of their 
names and their active support in bringing to life a non-partisan, 
aggressive, defense society which without fear of party or politics 
should lay bare the facts of our unpreparedness, and which should 
furthermore demand immediate action by Congress. 

On the advisability of forming the American Defense Society 
the officials of the National Security League were not consulted. 
In fact no one was consulted. Having resolved there should 
be an aggressive Defense Society, I requested the support of Mr. 
Stetson in my plans, and Mr. Stetson agreed to help me in this 
work. 

American Defense Society 

On August fourth, 1915, Mr. Stetson, Mr. Hubbard, Mr. Paul 
Thompson, Mr. George F. Sweeney, and your chairman formally 
signed the articles of incorporation of the American Defense Society 
in the office of Mr. Henry C. Quinby at 165 Broadway, and im¬ 
mediately afterward we opened the doors of the American Defense 
Society headquarters, at 303 Fifth Avenue, New York City. 

We then announced it to be our purpose to summon public 
support to the defense movement. We called ourselves a publicity 
headquarters for defense propaganda. We said: “It is the aim of 
the Trustees of the American Defense Society to wage an aggres¬ 
sive, fearless campaign for better national defense.” 

Our platform at that time as given to the public read as follows: 
“To tell the truth about our defenseless condition; to say frankly 
what the administration at Washington is doing and also what it is 
not doing; to work for a careful expenditure of public monies; to 
secure an adequate national defense without the perils of militarism, 
and finally, to work for a permanent international peace—that, in 
short, is the platform of the American Defense Society.” 

After we had made a public announcement regarding the plans 
of our organization, Mr. Stetson and I called on a certain few 
leaders in the various defense leagues, outlining our plans and 
volunteering the services of our organization. In return we received 
assurances not only of interest but of active support. 

On the afternoon of August fifth, after the morning news¬ 
papers of New York had carried headlines about the formation of 
the American Defense Society, we received the first intimation of 
the expected opposition to our plans. 

Certain other gentlemen, there being one in particular, declared 
there was no need of an “aggressive, fearless, defense society,” and 

8 


immediately wrote to members of our Advisory Board and to others 
requesting them to resign from our organization. 

At this time a number of amusing insinuations came to the 
attention of Mr. Stetson and myself, regarding the motives which 
prompted the organization of our society. Reporters from leading 
New York papers brought us the news, and requested a public state¬ 
ment regarding opposition to our work. In every instance Mr. 
Stetson and your chairman declined to make a reply. We believed 
the cause of national defense could best be served by harmony 
among the defense leagues, and we therefore continued our efforts 
to bring about this harmony. In short, we thought the best answer 
to the need of our organization could be given in the form of 
work done. 

Our Money 

No doubt you would like to know just where our money came 
from. We have never yet sought to make known our source of 
income. Nor have we told of the amounts given us in those early 
days. It is on our books, but we carefully guarded the books. We 
felt that if the truth were known it would argue against us. We 
felt that it might lead to our ultimate defeat. 

Where did the money come from? To tell the truth there was 
all in all very little money. In those early days, Mr. Stetson gave 
what he had, Mr. Hubbard gave what he had, and your chairman 
gave what he had. 

On some days there was none to give. Mr. George F. Sweeney, 
who had been associated with your chairman at the Commission for 
Relief in Belgium, and one of the five incorporators, then gave 
money for stamps. Mr. Paul Thompson, brother to your chairman, 
and the only remaining incorporator, from time to time gave money 
in larger amounts for stamps, office rent and personal expenses. 

Early Days 

On the morning of August 4th, Mr. Stetson, and your chair¬ 
man, now joined by Mr. Hubbard, began the distribution of two 
pamphlets, one stating the definite aims of the American Defense 
Society, and the other calling attention to the deplorable condition 
of our defenses. Our only office at that time was one measuring 
six by ten, and our working staff consisted of one stenographer. 
At the end of the first week we were obliged to borrow money in 
order to pay her salary. 

On Saturday, August 7th, we secured, rent free, a store at 299 
Fifth Avenue for the first war exhibit of the American Defense 
Society in New York City. We had nothing to exhibit, and no 
money with which to get material. Still we intended to have an 


9 


exhibit, and all we needed at the start was a sign which we ordered 
reading:— 

“AMERICAN DEFENSE SOCIETY 
MILITARY EXHIBIT.” 

Naturally our sign and the vacant store attracted the attention 
of a number of people, and among those who came were a number 
of critics. “Where is the exhibit ?” they inquired, and the only thing 
we could answer was that we were getting it together, and that we 
greatly needed their support. One very loyal woman, who had a 
relative in the navy, immediately set about to help us get the ex¬ 
hibit. She contributed big American flags. Mr. W. K. Starrett of 
the New York Tribune, gave us cartoons on preparedness. We 
telegraphed to the War Department and to the Navy Department 
for material. Mr. Gurdon S. Parker gave three hundred toy soldiers, 
toy dealers gave some, and by setting up six on one side of a sheet 
of paper, and three or four dozen on the other side we managed to 
show the size of our army in comparison to that of leading European 
nations. Mr. Henry Reuterdahl gave us marine studies. Later on 
we got a torpedo from the Navy Department, but when it arrived 
we were compelled to borrow $50.00 to pay the freight. That was 
our last $50.00. 

Among our callers in those early days was a Rear-Admiral of 
our Navy, who greatly encouraged us by his approval of our work. 
Another visitor was an officer high in the United States Army. He 
said we should have an exhibit on every block. 

There was no money to open other exhibits, but we did the 
next best thing. We wrote to five hundred boards of trade through¬ 
out the country requesting them to act as our agents in opening war 
exhibits, suggesting they get their material from the National Guard, 
and from the toy soldier dealers, and from the newspaper cartoonists. 

Later in August the newspaper dispatches recorded the adminis¬ 
tration’s disapproval of a preparedness address at Plattsburg, New 
York, and accordingly on August 28th, Mr. Stetson, as secretary, 
and your chairman, addressed an open letter to Secretary of War 
Garrison saying in part:— 

“In view of your reprimand publicly administered to Major- 
General Leonard Wood for permitting ex-President Theodore 
Roosevelt to speak at the Plattsburg Camp, the Board of Trustees 
of the American Defense Society desire to know how the cause of 
preparedness is to be advanced unless by a statement of facts de¬ 
tailing at length our defenseless condition. 

“Each succeeding day seems to bring forth additional evidence 
that the administration at Washington is not in favor of an aggres¬ 
sive campaign for preparedness; and at this time, in view of the part 
now taken officially by you and in the past by friends of the admin¬ 
istration, public interest compels the Board of Trustees to ask for 
an open statement regarding your position.” 


IO 


On September first, Secretary Garrison replied merely that our 
letter “quite obviously was prepared and published to cause em¬ 
barrassment.” 

Should nothing further be done to arouse public sentiment ? We 
ventured to ask the opinion of Ex-Secretary of the Navy George 
Von L. Meyer. On Sunday September fourth, Mr. Meyer answered 
in a public statement:— 

“It is of the utmost importance that public sentiment should be 
educated and aroused as to the need of an adequate army and navy, 
from now on. Unless the members of Congress feel the pressure 
of public sentiment, the necessary reforms, in order to bring about 
efficiency and preparedness, will not be inaugurated.” 

In less than a week following our open letter to Mr. Garrison, 
the official dispatches from Washington brought the news that Presi¬ 
dent Wilson had called upon Secretaries Garrison and Daniels for 
reports on the condition of our defenses, and for plans looking to¬ 
ward the improvement of these defenses. 

On September 13th, the trustees of the American Defense 
Society addressed an open letter to Henry Ford asking him “if he 
were doing a patriotic duty in giving money to unpreparedness in the 
United States at the same time he was furnishing the Allies with 
munitions of war through his American and English factories.” 

American Defense 

In September we published the first issue of AMERICAN DE¬ 
FENSE. In this first issue we called attention to the weakened 
position on preparedness taken by Chairman Hay of the Military 
Committee. And in this same issue we published a telegram sent 
to the White House by the Board of Trustees commending Presi¬ 
dent Wilson for his announced policy in favor of preparedness, and 
pledging our support to the campaign for better defense. 

A few days later, we called a meeting of the American Defense 
Society of New York City, for the purpose of perfecting a Com¬ 
mittee of One Hundred which should carry on an aggressive cam¬ 
paign in New York City. 

On October 6th the Trustees of the American Defense Society 
announced a card appeal campaign, whereby voters should sign and 
send to their respective Congressmen and Senators card appeals 
reading:— 

“As a voter in your district, I urge you to use your influence at 
the Sixty-Fifth Congress of the United States in favor of adequate 
NATIONAL DEFENSE.” 

In order to carry an effective nation-wide campaign along 
these lines, the Board of Trustees addressed an open letter to the 


11 


various state and city defense leagues and newspapers, requesting 
them to undertake this form of propaganda. 

On October 7th “for the purpose of making known to Congress 
the public desire for an adequate preparedness,” we selected Mon¬ 
day, December 6th, the day of the opening of Congress “as the most 
timely occasion in the United States on which to hold mass meetings 
and demonstrations, to publish letters in the press and to address 
Senators and Congressmen generally.” 

In October there was no issue of AMERICAN DEFENSE. 
We still owed the printing house for the first issue, and there was 
no money for another. There was no money for stamps either. 
Two friends of the chairman made personal loans to the amount of 
$170.00 for office rent, personal expenses, etc., but other bills were 
unpaid. 

Later in the month, however, through the efforts of our financial 
secretary, Mr. George Baxter, to whom we had given over this part 
of the work, we began to receive enough money with which to build 
for the future. 

At this time we considered the next issue of our magazine to be 
a matter of first importance, and since the demands upon the time of 
your chairman had already become too great in other directions, it 
was out of the question for him to be considered for this editorial 
undertaking. Mr. Hubbard was then entrusted with the responsi¬ 
bility of getting an editor for AMERICAN DEFENSE. Mr. Hub¬ 
bard suggested Mr. Philip J. Roosevelt, who after graduating from 
Harvard in 1912 had been associated with McClure’s magazine, 
and with the New York Globe. Mr. Roosevelt was persuaded to 
edit AMERICAN DEFENSE, and from that day, not only have 
we had the benefit of his service on the magazine, but his help cm 
the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees has been truly 
invaluable. 

On November tenth, we addressed letters to President Wilson 
and to Secretaries Daniels and Garrison in regard to the publication 
of the reports of the General Board of the Navy and the General 
Staff of the Army. Our letter to President Wilson said in part:— 

“The coming session of Congress will have for its most impor¬ 
tant work the discussion of an adequate measure of national de¬ 
fense. The purpose of national defense for United States will 
always be to maintain the position of this great free government 
among the nations of the world. The measure of national defense 
necessary to maintain that position is, we believe, outlined in con¬ 
siderable detail in the reports of the Naval General Board, and the 
Army General Staff. Without the opinion of experts intelligent dis¬ 
cussion of the question of national defense is impossible. We are 
therefore writing to you as chief Executive of the United States to 
ask that in this critical hour you will use your influence to throw 
light upon the subject which is agitating every patriotic American 
mind today.” 


12 


Within a few days the news dispatches from Washington 
brought the information that the official reports from these Boards 
would be forthcoming, but not until after the President and the two 
Secretaries had respectively announced their own programs. 

On November 29th, being impressed by the need of united 
effort for defense in this country, the chairman of your Board as¬ 
sumed the responsibility of giving out a press statement in which all 
the defense organizations were urged to co-operate with the Ameri¬ 
can Defense Society so that support might be given to President 
Wilson in his fight against the pacifists. This statement read in 
part:— 

“Less than a week before the opening day of Congress, workers 
for defense in this country stand in the unhappy position of carrying 
on their campaign unorganized, against the pacifist element who 
threaten to block the announced preparedness program of the ad¬ 
ministration in Washington. 

“Effort to organize the defense force along national lines was 
made some time ago by several of the defense leagues and the result 
was a tentative formation of the so-called Conference Committee. 

This body represented the American Legion, American Red Cross, 
Aero Club of America, Navy League, the Automobile Club of 
America, National Security League, and the Institute of Radio 
Engineers. This Conference Committee, formed early in June, 
gave promise of being the solution of the whole question, but up to 
date, nothing has been accomplished by that body as a unit owing 
to dissension in its ranks. 

“The original program of the Conference Committee provided 
for a campaign of education of a national character. This work, 
however, the committee has failed to do, leaving it to the individual 
leagues. 

“In view of the fact that there is today no bona fide amalgma- 
tion of defense leagues, it stands to reason that the immediate and 
imperative necessity of the defense movement is an organization of 
these forces along national lines.” 

On December sixth, a notable day in the history of our Society, 
appeared the first enlarged edition of AMERICAN DEFENSE, 
the national magazine published for the American Defense Society 
under the editorship of Philip J. Roosevelt. 

On December twelfth, y<^ur trustees announced a defense or¬ 
ganization of the advertising men of the country, in addition to a 
publicity committee composed of the leading writers of the United 
States. 

From August fourth to December fifteenth, your Board of 
Trustees printed and distributed leaflets to the extent of several 
hundred thousand—leaflets on our defenseless condition, and on the 
need of preparedness. We have also printed the open letters of 
Congressman Augustus P. Gardner on the condition of our Navy. 
Copies of Mr. Henry B. Joy’s reply to Henry Ford, supplied by Mr. 
Joy, have been distributed in New York and elsewhere. Reprints 

13 


of the article by Mr. Julian Street in Collier’s Weekly on “Our Next 
War,” have also been sent out. Another valuable reprint in our list 
is “The Ounce of Prevention” by R. M. Johnston, author of “Arms 
and the Race,” issued by courtesy of the Century Company. 

In addition to the publishing of these pamphlets, however, we 
have done much other work. Through the press we have called 
public attention to the work being done by the college and university 
authorities in the summer camps of the National Reserve Corps. 
We have also taken up the need of reform in those school histories 
which fail to show the great losses of life due to our unpreparedness 
in wars dating from 1775. We have furnished material to many 
state Boards of Education, to schools and colleges, to societies _ id 
clubs throughout the country, as well as to many hundred thousand 
individuals, and to our rapidly growing list of Branch Societies. 

There are many other things of which I should like to speak 
in detail, namely, our branches in process of formation; our state 
committees; our special feature newspaper service; our organization 
of national publicity committees; our speakers’ bureau, our library 
on national defense, and finally our national magazine, AMERICAN 
DEFENSE. 

Of this magazine, AMERICAN DEFENSE, we are all very 
proud, for under the editorship of Mr. Philip J. Roosevelt it took at 
one step a position far at the front of our aggressive fight. It is 
today, as I see it, the great organ of the American people for better 
national defense. 

The reports of other officials, however, will give you the de¬ 
tailed story of our progress. Our books will give you a record of 
where every cent has come from, and to what use it has been put. 
Let me say further, from the very first, we have been careful to 
see that all expenditures were made for the best interests of national 
defense. 

Now all that remains for your chairman to do is to put the 
question to the Advisory Board—have we, the trustees, justified our 
existence ? Are we, the trustees, still entitled to your consideration ? 
In behalf of the trustees, I ask for an answer, but before it is given 
let me add a final paragraph. 

In August and September, when we were taking the first 
steps toward the organization of the American Defense Society, 
both Mr. Stetson and myself tried to enlist the support of many men. 
In this period we went, literally, begging for help, but the sums we 
got were not enough to pay for postage, to say nothing of office 
rent, telephones, stenographers, stationery, printing, etc. It was 
not until October, that our appeals, under the direction of Mr. 
George Baxter, began to show those gratifying results which en¬ 
title Mr. Baxter, I shall always believe, to a lasting vote of thanks. 

Mr. George F. Sweeney, our Executive Secretary, we now 


14 


have to thank for the efficient direction of our work at the national 
headquarters. 

In these early days many others have helped, by their time, by 
contributions, and equally important, by their encouraging letters. 

Let us not forget the time when we got our first approving 
words and active support from Mr. Cleveland Moffett, Mr. Henry 
C. Quinby, Mr. Henry Reuterdahl, Dr. Lee de Forest, Mr. Julian 
Street, Mr. Richard Stockton, Jr., Mr. Leslie G. Tompkins, Mr. 
Joseph H. Coit and Mr. Rupert Hughes. Nor in this record should 
we fail to make mention of the help given our cause by Mr. Hudson 
Maxim, Mr. Charles J. Bonaparte, Mr. Truman H. Newberry, Dr. 
John Grier Hibben, Mr. Augustus P. Gardner, and Mr. George 
Von L. Meyer. 

Let us not forget the morning when we got the letter from 
Oyster Bay saying:— 

“Mr. Roosevelt will be delighted to have you put his name on 
the Advisory Board of your new organization, as you propose. He 
wishes all success to your efforts. 

Faithfully yours, 

J. W. McGRATH, Secretary to 

THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 

August 16th, 1915.” Oyster Bay, L. I., N. Y. 

It came in the same mail, I remember, which brought the resignation 
of a member of our Advisory Board. In those days, we had need 
of encouraging words. Nor should we forget the space given us 
by the newspapers of New York—the Times, Herald, Sun, Tribune, 
American, World, Press, the Globe, the Mail and the Telegram. 
That is all. 

Now at last you know of the inspiration and the handicap 
under which we have labored for defense. Just how great our 
handicap was, I believe, no one will ever know. There is 
only one question. Have we justified our existence? That is for 
you, and others, to say 

Respectfully submitted, 

C. S. THOMPSON, 

Chairman of the Board of Trustees, 

THE AMERICAN DEFENSE SOCIETY. 


December 15, 1915. 


LIBKHKY 





